BATS; Yankees Say Jeter May Not Be Ready for Opener

By PETER KERASOTIS

Published: March 21, 2013

scratched from the lineup against Philadelphia, Jeter received a cortisone shot Wednesday morning and was not expected to resume baseball activities for two or three days.">

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s Derek Jeter, so people automatically assume he will exceed normal standards. But it is possible that not even Jeter will be able to make the Yankees’ opening day lineup less than sixth months after fracturing his left ankle and needing surgery to repair it.

The larger question is whether he can be ready for opening day, April 1, against Boston.

General Manager Brian Cashman not only acknowledged that Jeter might not be ready, but also conceded that he could begin the season on the disabled list.

“He is, as we all know, a remarkable individual,” Cashman said. “Because of who he is, I can’t count anything out. But because of the time frame I can’t say that it’s not possible he might not be ready, given how much time we have left. I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy with anybody breathing that. But I can’t not acknowledge the obvious.”

Jeter last played in Saturday’s 7-0 loss to Philadelphia, going four innings and fielding one foul ball. He also played a day earlier, against Miami on Friday, going five innings and fielding three grounders. He was 1 for 2 in Saturday’s game, lacing a double to right-center field, which raised his preseason batting average to .273 and his OBP to .333.

But Jeter apparently has not been the same since those back-to-back games, his first such games since he fractured the ankle in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 13. He had surgery a week later.

“The season is starting to approach,” Cashman said. “If you ask him, opening day would be a certainty. But in fairness, I don’t know yet. We’ve got to be in a position where we can do a full nine innings of defense and do back-to-back games. There is some time left. We’ll see how he responds. But I can’t give you a certainty now that what he’s just experienced isn’t going to push it back a little bit. I just don’t know.”

Cashman added that the shot Jeter received was normal procedure and that the club was not “shooting him to get him ready for opening day.” He continued: “We’re just following whatever the doctor’s recommendations are. Opening day is not in the course or scope of their treatment in this case.”

“It’s a setback, but we’ll get through it,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “Our goal has been to get him back for opening day, but we’ve got to see where he’s at.”

The Yankees started Eduardo Nunez in Wednesday’s 4-0 victory against Boston, with Cashman saying he is comfortable starting the season with Nunez at shortstop. In fact, both Cashman and Girardi said there had been noticeable improvement in Nunez’s defensive play, which has been the club’s consistent concern.

“I think he’s made a lot of progress,” Girardi said. “He’s played a pretty decent shortstop. His throwing has been more consistent, which I think has given him more confidence.”

Nunez spent most of last season in the minors, where he worked on his defense, particularly his throwing motion.